Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
13-15 (6-9MAC)
Toledo
16-11 (7-8MAC)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toledo | 23 | 23 | 18 | 0 |
| Ball State | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Women's Volleyball Tops Toledo In Three
November 13, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - In its final regular season home match, the Ball State women's volleyball team defeated Mid-American Conference opponent Toledo, 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-18), for its second consecutive victory at Worthen Arena Thursday evening.
With the win, the Cardinals improve to 13-15 overall and 6-9 in the MAC. Ball State can assure themselves home court advantage in the first round of the 2009 Mid-American Conference Tournament with a win at Akron Saturday. Toledo falls to 16-11 (7-8 MAC) with the loss.
The Cardinals (13-15, 6-9 MAC) were strong across the board offensively, with three student-athletes posting double-figure kills, led by a match-high 14 from sophomore Kelsey Brandl (Lakeville, Minn./University of Cincinnati).
Junior Hannah Sullivan (New Albany, Ind./University of Houston) and fifth-year senior Alisha Green (Country Club Hills, Ill./University of Tampa) followed suit with 13 and 12 kills, respectively.
Sophomore standout Brittany McGinnis (Fraser, Mich./Fraser H.S.), who led the match with 40 assists, guided the Ball State offense to a .239 (52-20-134) attacking percentage, while chipping in with nine digs, two kills and a block.
Defensively, junior Alyssa Rio (Wayne, Ill./St. Francis H.S.) contributed a match-best 23 digs for the Cardinals while sophomore Kaylee Schembra (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli H.S.) and McGinnis chipped in nine.
Overall, the Ball State defense use strong backcourt play and a big net presence to limit the Toledo attack to a .125 (30-16-112) rate of success. Brandl led the Cardinals on the block with six block assists, with four coming in the span of five plays in BSU's strong run late in the third set. The Cardinals also held a 60 to 49 edge in digs.
Amber DeWeerdt led the Rockets with eight kills, while also recording a team-high 16 digs. Kassie Kadera led UT with 28 assists, while adding nine digs, two aces and a pair of kills. Katie Westerfeld joined DeWeerdt in double-figure digs with 11.
In set one, the Rockets capitalized on four BSU errors to explode out to a 4-0 lead before kills from Green and Sullivan put the Cardinals on the scoreboard.
After a UT kill from Sondra Parys to give the Rockets a 10-6 lead, BSU strung together two points to keep things close and cut the deficit to 10-8 courtesy of another kill from Green.
The Rockets used a 6-3 run to extend their lead to a set-high five points, 16-11, thanks in part to kills from Cassis Kleespies and Liz Sundburg. The Cardinals countered with a 5-1 run led by three kills from Brandl, who also teamed up with McGinnis for a block that forced a UT timeout with the Rockets holding onto a slim 17-16 advantage.
UT seemed poised for a set one victory leading 22-19, but the Cardinals closed the first stanza with a 6-1 streak to win the set 25-23. Brandl threw down three more kills during the run, including the final two.
Set two started off in the Cardinals' favor as BSU jumped out to a 5-2 lead behind a pair of kills from sophomore Jennifer Boyd (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley H.S.) and single markers from Green and Sullivan.
The Rockets quickly bounced back, tying the set 9-9 on a combo block effort from Kleespies and Sundburg. Kleespies also drove home a kill during UT's comeback effort.
Kills from Green and junior Charde' Phillips (Elyria, Ohio/University of Minnesota) helped BSU re-establish its lead at 13-10 before a 5-1 Rockets run allowed UT to take its first lead of the set at 15-14. Kadera had a kill, an assist and a block assist during UT's run.
Sullivan helped the Cardinals retaliate, registering a kill and a service ace that gave BSU an 18-17 lead and led to a Rockets timeout. Kills from Brandl, Green and McGinnis helped BSU continue its streak, scoring three of the next four points and forcing another timeout from UT.
The Rockets bounced back, firing off a 3-1 run of their own behind kills from Parys and DeWeerdt, this time causing a Cardinals timeout at 22-21. Another kill from DeWeerdt tied set two, 22-22, before a McGinnis kill and assist helped BSU win set two by the same margin as the first one, 25-23.
Set three saw the visitors blast off to an 8-5 lead despite BSU two kills from Boyd and kills from Green, Phillips and Sullivan. Parys had two early kills for UT.
After a Bethany Irwin kill put the Rockets on top 13-10, the Cardinals went on an 11-1 run that saw two timeouts from UT. Sullivan led BSU during the run, pounding three kills and combining with Brandl for a block. Boyd and Brandl also teamed up to combine for two blocks during the run and another one that put BSU ahead 22-15.
Following a UT kill from DeWeerdt, BSU used a pair of Green kills and a kill from Brandl to bring home three of the next five points and win the match on a 25-18 set three victory.
The Cardinals close their regular season at Akron Saturday at 7 p.m. With a victory, BSU will host a first round match in the 2009 MAC Tournament Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m.
